


The Calm Before The Storm

by Adamnedusername



Series: Pray for The DM Yall, for The Players Know Not What They Do [4]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, But I remembered I made 3 characters with sad backstories, DnD Typical Roll Play, Gen, I feel like I'm bad at angst, No editors I die like a man learning to edit by myself, This is a light hearted au, Tried angst, dnd 5e
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 10:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29873016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adamnedusername/pseuds/Adamnedusername
Summary: What happens when a heavily bullied runaway sorcerer prince, a druid who was accidentally abandoned by his parents, a GOOlock who was kicked out of wizard school for "practicing" the dark arts, a faelock whose parents and older brother were executed for consorting with the fae, and a bard with a happy childhood go on a quest together?Mumbo learns how to drive horse carriage, the party returns the massive pile of gold, but eventually, the party realizes they only know names and classes, so they discuss backstory.
Series: Pray for The DM Yall, for The Players Know Not What They Do [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008246
Kudos: 13





	The Calm Before The Storm

Twas the night before the session and Cleo was plotting. Actually, plotting was the wrong word. The party only had one chance to rest and relax, and they didn’t even get that because a murderous paladin tried to kill them; on top of that, Mumbo wanted to learn how to use a tool cause the others could already use at least one. DM Cleo had a fair share of work ahead of her.

Of course, her plans hit a snag when the session started, and she remembered the party slept in a cave outside of town with a cart full of gold and said snagged plans were built more around a town than in the middle of the woods, so mad improve stills were needed.

“So guys, where are you heading today?” she asked.

“Well, if I’m reading this map of the country you gave us during Session 0 right, we’re heading to Pierregrise.” Grian said while putting a map on the table.

After a closer examination cross-referencing both the party’s map and hers, she found out they were, in fact, heading to Pierregrise. Another bit of world-building info, Pierregrise is the country’s capital city. Cleo wasn’t sure if these morons going to the capital city was the best idea ever or the worst. However, that didn’t matter because no matter what, that was the closest town, and these goobers wanted to go there.

“You think we’ll be rewarded if we drop all this gold off at Pierregrise?” Cub asked.

Scar turned to Cleo. “Does this count as a quest?”

“Yes, I’m gonna count this as a quest. Honestly, I’m surprised you guys aren’t just taking all the gold yourselves.” Cleo mentioned. That was an option. Not a very noble option, but it was an option.

“I mean we could…” Cub said, “But the longer we have all this gold, the longer we risk getting robbed and left dead in a ditch.”

That was a valid reason.

“Alright, who’s driving?” Grian asked, before jumping to the seat next to where the reign stick was.

A new problem was discovered. No one in this party knew how to drive.

“Hey Cleo, do you know how one might learn a new skill?” Mumbo asked.

“Hold on, let me check the rules as written,” she said while checking the index of her Dungeon Master’s Guide. Then she remembered that that particular bit of information was in the Player’s Handbook and checked there, “Okay, it basically says you need to find a teacher willing to teach you, and the process takes 250 days and costs 1 gold a day. However, we can adapt it because you don’t have 250 gold. I don’t know how it’ll work, but right now, you can just get your first bit of practice on your way to Pierregrise.”  
Satisfied, Mumbo hopped in the driver’s seat and Cub moved to take shotgun.

“Hey, I already called it,” Grian said.

“And I have the invocation that lets me talk to the horses.” Cub replied.

“Okay Horse Boy.” Grian snapped as he moved to the impromptu back seat after Scar and Zed put a tarp over the treasure to try and better hide the mad amount of gold. 

“Oh wait, I gotta put my bear away,” Cub said.

“Wait, you can talk to horses AND you have a bear!” Grian shrieked.

“Yeah,” Cub replied, “Her name is Lucy, and I let her out during the goblin fight, but I kinda didn’t need her because Scar and Zed creamed the goblins.”

Out of character, Zed apologized. “I’m still not sure how okay with murdering sapient beings this group is.”

“A valid concern,” Grian said, “Moral questions often come up in DnD, and from what I’ve heard about the way Cleo DMs, there are no pure good and evil races.”

“I’m flattered that you’d learn that, but right now I feel like we have to get back to Mumbo learning how to drive a horse-drawn carriage,” Cleo said.

“Thanks, Cleo,” Mumbo said before everyone went back in game. He looked to the two dirty grey horses standing ideally waiting for commands. “Cub, can you ask the horses to be nicer to me?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Cub said before addressing the horses, “Hey guys, can you go easy on the driver? He’s new and needs help learning.”

“Does he know how to turn and stop a horse?” the horse on the right asked in a stern, gruff voice.

“Um...I’m gonna say no. How do you start, turn and stop a horse cart?” Cub asked.

“It’s simple. To get us going, your friend should say “Walk.” If he wants to turn left, pull on the left rein; same action for turning right. If he wants to stop, pull on both reins while firmly saying “Woah”. Tell that to your friend, and I’m sure he’ll do fine,” the horse on the left said in a calm voice.

“And what about speeding up?”

“That, you’ll have to ask us to do,” the gruff horse said, “We’re not speeding up for a new driver.” 

Cub relayed that information to Mumbo. “Okay, how do I get out of this parking lot?”

Scar took a quick look around. To get out of this lot, Mumbo would have had to pull away from the mound before the cart had enough clearance to swing left and trot to the lot’s entrance. “Okay Mumbo, pull forward,” Scar said.

“Okay, I can do that,” Mumbo said, sitting up as straight as possible and holding the reins firmly, “Wait how do I get the horses to move?”

Everyone at the table facepalmed before Cleo made him make an animal handling check. 16, and his Wisdom modifier didn’t add or subtract it.

In the most confident voice he could muster, Mumbo spoke. “Walk.” The horses walked forward with no problems. Within about 10 trots Mumbo turned his head to look back and see how much further the horses had to go before he could try and turn. It took about 5 more horse trots for him to feel comfortable enough to turn without hitting the hill, and honestly for his developing driving skills that he does that then try and risk it at this stage. He pulled on the left reigns. Another animal handling check. 11. The horses continued to trot forward, freaking Mumbo out.

“Oh god, what do I do?” he shrieked, internally in character and externally out of game.

“Try again,” Cleo said, “And not to put too much pressure on you, but you have two more rolls before you hit the treeline.”

No pressure at all.

From the back seat, Zed put a hand on Mumbo’s shoulder. “You got this Mumbo.” Out of game, Zed handed Mumbo a d6.

Right now, Mumbo didn’t need it cause he got a natural 20, but bardic inspiration lasted 10 minutes in game. He could use that with the next turn.

In game, the horses turned with no problem and trotted forward to the parking lot entrance connecting the lot to the road. When he reached that entrance, another check had to be made. A 19. Mumbo started feeling like he wouldn’t get to use his friend’s kindness after all, but still, it was good to have. When on the road, driving became a bit easier(partially because real-life driving follows a similar thought, and partially because the DC lowered from 15 to 13). However, there was still a problem.  
Mumbo rolled an 11, and with Zed’s d6, he added the 1 he rolled. The horses reared up, spooking back seat passengers and terrifying the driver.

Thinking fast, Cub tried to speak to the horses. “Guys, what’s wrong? What spooked you?”

“Sanke! Snake!” the horses loudly cried.

Out of game, Scar did a little fear shiver.

A buzz was barely heard above all the chaos, identifying the snake.

“Cleo, is my rapier long enough to pick up the snake to move it off the path?” Zed asked.

“Hop out and check.”

Zed did just that, giving the panicked horses a wide berth, and saw a tiny barely foot-long rattler a horse’s length away from the horses, coiled up ready to strike the large stomping death creatures in front of them.

It was Zed’s turn with the animal handling check. Another nat 20. He effortlessly picked up the snake small with the business end of his sword without harming them before swiftly moving them to the bushes and giving the baby a chance to escape into the bushes.

Meanwhile, the horse situation was a bit more complicated. Scar cast animal friendship before hopping out to calm the left horse. “Shhhhh, shhh, it’s alright.” Scar’s voice was so soft and soothing as it calmed the horse enough to give it a loving pat on the snout. “That’s right. See? The snake’s gone. You’re both okay.”

Speaking of that horse…

“Please, the snake is gone! You’re freaking out Mumbo,” Cub pleaded to the horse.

“Nope, that scaled demon’s still out there! I won’t rest until I stomp it dead!” the horse shouted while still rearing up.

Meanwhile, Mumbo’s failing every check he’s making to try and calm the horse, becoming as freaked out as the fictional horse is.

Zed gave Scar the d6 before letting him try and help Mumbo. Animal friendship was cast, making the horse make a wisdom save. 11, and since horses aren’t particularly wise or unwise, that wasn’t bumped up or down. As the magic took hold, Scar approached, speaking in his calming voice. “Hey buddy, it’s okay. We got rid of the snake.” Scar rolled a 15 with modifiers to the horse’s flat 8. The horse began to calm before Scar patted their snout. Soon, the terrifed creature was done panicking. Mumbo sensed the energy shift and calmed as well.

Soon, the group was at the gates without another test of the new carriage driver’s driving abilities, and the party got their first good look at the city. Despite Cleo literally naming the town Grey Stone in French, the party was taken aback by all the grey stone. Grey outer city wall, grey roof shingles poking up from the top of the wall, grey cobblestone path, grey-haired grey uniformed guards who almost belt into the wall around the darker grey wrot iron city gate they were guarding, even the air was full of the sounds of stonemasons working, more than likely grey, stones, and the place almost smelt of grey stone; everyone in the cart had to look up to see if this town had managed to turn that into grey stone too, and the overcast weather did not help.

Mumbo stopped the cart as the guards approached.

“State your business with the city of Pierregrise.” one said in a firm voice.

“We took care of the goblins down the road and are here to turn in the gold,” Mumbo said.

“Oh, you are the goblin party. Yes, they informed us you would be soon.” the guard then shouted at his coworkers inside the town and the gate rose before he waved Mumbo forward.

Fortunately for Mumbo, a grey guard on a stone grey horse led the new driver through the new city, and as they passed windows, the party learned the town knew what wood and glass were. The buildings had more grey cobble first floors and foundations with second floors much wider than the first with whitish-grey stone inset in rich dark brown wood. Clear windows are framed in darker wood, though it wasn’t as dark as the shadows that passed by were. Strangely enough, the streets were mostly clean, though the party was not sure whether it was because this town knew dirty streets could contribute to all manner of plagues, or if it was because dirt and horse manure would be an unwelcome interruption from the grey.

Eventually, they came to a building that looked like a sizable chunk of it was ripped off and replaced with bright red bricks, and the group was being waved over to the red side by a half-elf who looked like he had a good 3 inches on Mumbo at the cost of thickness with short sun blond hair on his head. Mumbo parked the carriage where the half-elf directed him to, and the party stepped out of the cart as more guards stepped out to unload it. 

“Hello adventurers,” the half-elf greeted, “I am Darius Silversun, captain of The Pierregrise Guard. The goblins told us you would be here soon.” This man’s voice was smooth as silk(as Cleo described it, but no one was insulting her voice acting attempts), and Grian and gang felt like they could listen to him all day. It also helped that they could hear the jingling of gold coins as mad amounts of large burly men took them out of the cart as fast as they could.

“Speaking of, what’s going on with them?” Grian asked.

“Their dead have been revived, and have decided to stay around the temple to see what they can learn from the clerics stating you gave them such a great opportunity to learn new skills along with a new lease on life,” Darius replied.

This answer did not sit well with Grian. “Crap, guys, we gave the goblins religion.”

Darius took a moment to collect himself before speaking again, “Yes, and now onto the reward. The reward for the capture of the culprits of these robberies was 15 gold pieces per perpetrator, per party involved with returning said gold. So, 15 times 10 times 5 equals 750 gold.”

All their jaws hit the floor when they heard that number. Cub was the first to recover enough for speech. “Mumbo, we can afford to feed your horses.” 

“Not just the horses,” Grian squeaked, “We can actually afford a professional driving instructor for Mumbo.”

Cleo was confused by this reaction. “You were literally in possession of a massive pile of gold, enough to stuff 10 bags of holding and a cart. Why is this much money breaking you?”

“We already accepted that gold wasn’t ours,” Zed said, “this is.”

Eventually, Cleo just accepted it. They were shocked by the amount of money they could keep. Darius handed Cub the map and the gold as the fast workers finished their duties and called for him to start handling the bureaucratic side of stuff.

“Hold on, why does he get to hold the money?” Grian said, eyebrows raised at Cub.

“Why should I not?” Cub shot back.

“Because I don’t trust you,” Grian said.

“Well maybe I also don’t trust you,” Cub said.

“Why don’t you trust me?”

“Why don’t you trust me?”

While they were bickering, Scar and Mumbo stepped in between them just to keep the fight from getting ugly, while out of game, Zed asked Cleo a question. “What would I need to roll to snatch the bag of gold out of Cub’s hands?”

“While they’re still bickering, sleight of hand, but he’ll have to make a strength save.”

“May I?”

“Of course.”

Zed rolled an 18 plus +5 with modifiers, but that was a bit overkill as Cub rolled a 1, and his +1 strength mod wasn’t saving him. There was no contest; Zed just ripped that bag out of Cub’s hands before anyone even noticed.

“I’ve decided neither of you gets to hold the gold,” Zed said.

Grian let out an offended gasp. “Excuse me?!”

“Don’t you “Excuse me.” I had to be the adult in this situation.” Zed sassed back before directing his next comment at both Cub and Grian. “Neither of you are holding the gold.”

The two cats dropped their catfight, and everyone got into the cart to go to the inn. As they made their way to the inn, the party noticed more buildings with chunks torn out and replaced with bright red bricks, and the whole party made many comments on how jarring that looked.

Soon they arrived at the inn that was two stories tall, half a block wide, from first glance with mostly red brick and a small patch of grey stone by the door where a cream and stub horned tiefling guided Mumbo into the stable where a variety of other humanoids came and helped unhitch and stable the horses, throwing fresh, soft hay onto the cleaned stone floor of the stalls before leading the horses out. The tiefling led Mumbo and his mob into a small room with a dark oak desk with an inch thick book in the center. Aged paper scent was as prevalent as all the aged maps and old books on the dark oak bookshelf. On the wall opposite from the one they came in from was a closed oak door. The tiefling thumbed through the book before settling on a page in the center.

“Welcome to Grey Corner Inn. How many rooms would you like?” they practically sang with a bright smile.

Ummm...How many rooms did they want?

“Well, one room for each of us might be too expensive,” Scar started.

“Yeah, and if someone attacked us at night, we’d be in greater danger,” Cub added, “Are there 5 person rooms?”

“On this side of the in, yes.” This prompted a quick explanation. “You’re not in the main check-in room. This is the quick check-in room for people with carriages. We also separated the actual inn into normal and carraged rooms, and since larger guest groups tend to come in carriages, larger rooms are carriage rooms.”

Now, not everyone would be this amazed by this neat bit of world-building, but this party loved it.

“Can we do this with our inn?” Grian squeaked. He and the others looked to Cleo with pleading eyes.

“Do you even have an inn?”

“No…”

“Then you can’t until you have an inn.” Unfortunately for Cleo, this came out before she could even stop and consider the fact that that one offline could later be interpreted as her giving them permission to buy their own inn, and she moved on with the game.

“Your total for tonight including the stable and meals will be 4 gold pieces. Dinner starts in half an hour, and breakfast starts at 6 sharp and runs to 9 when signout starts. Would you like me to show you to your room?” 

The gold clinked as Zed handed it to the innkeeper. “No thank you, we can find our way ourselves.”

The innkeeper handed Zedaph the room key. “Your room number is on the key.” They then pointed to the other door. “Just take the stairs up to the stable section. If you wish to go to the dining area, there is a door at the bottom of the flight. On the other side of the door is the dining area. Please enjoy your stay.”

They all thanked the innkeeper before making their way up to their room.

“This place is great. Can we stay here every time we go to Pierregrise?” Scar asked.

“Better question, can all inns be like this?” Grian added.

“No. I can tell you right now, they’re not all gonna be like this.” Cleo said.

Mumbo was not having this. “Then I’m buying a tent that can fit in the cart for when we’re not in Pierregrise.”

A practical idea, but Cleo had secretly hoped the party would stay at an inn from hell before they consider doing that in towns.

Jumping back to the game, Cub and Zed were the first to enter the room and instead of checking out the bed, they went over to the window closest to the door wall.

“You know how to do an Adventurer Safety Check?” Cub asked.

A what now?

“Yeah, my mom and dad taught me how,” Zed replied.

Cleo was about to ask what they were on about when Scar asked in game “What’s an Adventurer Safety Check?”

“It’s what my dad did a lot when he was adventuring to make sure the inn room was safe for the night,” Zed said before puffing up his chest and placed his hands on his chests before continuing in a deeper voice, “After all, Adventurer Safety Checks aren’t just a good suggestion; they’re vital for adventuring safety.”

“Then why didn’t you do one back in the cave last night?” Scar asked, voice devoid of any sarcasm.

Zed’s brain cell froze for a moment to process that.

“Well my parents also didn’t adventure much, but my older brother and I did safety checks around the house with them because they were super paranoid.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Grian said, that statement containing more venom than a snake milking facility.

Cub in turn glared more daggers at Grian than could be forged at a large blacksmithing competition.

Sensing tension, and a possible magic fight, Scar and Mumbo stepped back while Zed stepped forward.

“Alright, break it up both of you.” he snapped. “What’s gotten into you two?”

Out of game Scar looked at both Grian and Cub. “Guys, why do you two hate each other all of a sudden?”

“We just wanted to be catty to each other for reasons that may become relevant later. We can stop if it’s annoying you guys,” Grian said.

“Hey, as long as I don’t have to break up the next fight, I’m fine,” Zed quipped.

“Okay,” Cub said before they went back to the window, “Cleo if I were to roll to check the window and door locks, what skill would I have to use?”

This stumped Cleo, but the most logical choice would probably be an investigation check. “I’d say checking locks counts as an investigation, so roll for that.”

Zed and Cub rolled, and together they got 7, 14, 16, 22, meaning the door, and two windows were confirmed safe, but they may have missed something on the last window.

After the window check, the party tucked their stuff under their bed, they went down to the dining hall. The first thing they noticed was the scent of roast foul, and upon looking at the special sign by the door, the group learned tonight was foul night. Most of the tables were already occupied by talking guests, but Grian and Gang were able to find one in a corner far away from the bard stage, which drew Zed’s attention. Unfortunately for him, there was already a fire juggler on stage and a long line of other impatient performers behind them.

“Guess I’m not providing the dinner show tonight,” Zed commented as they all sat down.

A tall and buff half-orc man came to take everyone’s orders, and the party ordered a full grouse with some mashed potatoes.

“Okay, and what would you like to drink?” he asked.

“Cleo, what is there to drink?” Scar asked.

“Water, juices, various alcohol,” she said before placing a chart in the middle of the table, “If you’re gonna order any of the alcohol, you’ll need this.”

“I mean, we’re all adults in this game. We can probably get away with one drink,” Grian said.

Scar grimaced at the chart, remembering his -1 constitution modifier. “I’m just gonna stick with apple juice.”

“You know what, drinking weird combinations of juice sounds more appealing than alcohol, so I want a grape, guava, dragon fruit juice mix,” Zed said.

Grian and Cub ordered a goblet of wine like reasonable adults, but Mumbo decided he wanted to push his luck. “I want you to mix the 4 strongest drinks you serve, pour a glass of wine in, and serve it to me.”

The rest of the table looked at him in stunned silence before Cleo regained some speech abilities. “Mumbo, what you’re describing is akin to a horse tranquilizer, and will open your mind to elder gods. Are you sure you want to order that?”

And with all the confidence of a fool about to insult a king, Mumbo said “Yes.”

And with that, the half-orc went to place their orders. A few moments later, he came back with their drinks. Mumbo’s abomination, as Cleo described it, was black as deoxygenated blood and smelled so strong of alcohol, everyone else at the table had to roll a con check to keep from throwing up, and thankfully, they all passed it.

“Okay Mumbo, your turn to make a con save,” Cleo said, “and you have to beat a 13.”

“Hold on, I thought I had to beat a 10!” Mumbo shouted in shock. “The chart said 10.”

“The chart didn’t account for your abomination,” Cleo shot back. “Now roll me that con save.”

Out of game, Mumbo gulped before rolling. 19.

Cleo just stared at the dice in shock as Mumbo cheered, his fist shooting in the air in excitement. In game, Mumbo happily gulped down his drink while his friends just stared on in horror.

“Okay Mumbo, after that abomination, you’re done for the night,” Grian said. 

“Yeah, I don’t wanna make Zed carry me back to the room,” Mumbo replied.

“Speaking of Zed,” he said, waving to get everyone’s attention, “He has a question. We all only know each other’s names and classes, but not much else, but we’re all still traveling together. I feel like we ought to get to know each other better.”

“Actually, getting to know each other sounds amazin,” Scar said with a bright smile, “I’ve always wondered what stories you all have to tell about yourselves, and right now seems like the perfect setting to tell them with the good food and drink, and all the comradery already around us. It’ll be great.”

Grian and Cub glared at each other like they already figured out the other, and Mumbo just turned to his crime against liquids.

Zed sighed, “Fine, I’ll go first. My mom was an elf bard, and my dad was a human bard. They met on a quest and really hit it off, and eventually, I was born. I grew up listening to all their cool adventuring stories and wanted to be a bard just like them, so they started training me to be a bard and an adventurer. Now I might not have been very good at it in the beginning, or somewhere in the middle, but I like to think I was good enough by the time they sent me off into the world.”

Everyone else gave a chuckle and an awww before Scar took his turn. “My original plan wasn’t to be a druid. Back when I still lived with my family, my brothers were training to be fighters, and they wanted me to try and become a cleric so they had someone who could heal them, but then one day while my family and I were attacked by a large group of bandits and scattered. I was left a lone Scar wandering the woods alone for weeks when this kind druid lady found me and took me in, and taught me some of the druid arts. She also lived by a fae portal, so I learned more fae circle stuff than moon circle stuff, but my druid mother doesn’t mind. Eventually, she sent me out on an adventure to improve my skills and see more of the world, and I’ve been doing that and trying to find my old family because I miss them.”

Grian took a sip of his wine before speaking. “My story’s not as fun and happy as Zed’s,” he said.

Cub scoffed, “You’re a prince. How tragic can your life be?”

Suddenly, Grian slammed both hands on both in game and irl tables before addressing Cub. “Alright discount crime boy, how’s all your cousins hating you for existing for a tragic backstory?” In game everyone was silent as Grian continued, “They were all jealous cause I got my powers without having to work for them, not realizing I still have to work hard to control my magic otherwise I’d have a repeat of the nursery incident. I ran away to become an adventurer just to get away from them.”

“I may have made a bad assumption,” Cub said.

“You think?” Zed jabbed.

Grian let go of some tension he didn’t know he was carrying. “Honestly, letting that out made me feel better than when I tried to prank those fools. I didn’t know they could shun me that hard before that.”

“I may know a thing or two about being shunned,” Cub started, giving Grian an understanding look. “I grew up in the cattiest, most judgemental village ever. Basically, anyone who wasn’t a normal present was an outcast, and everyone talked crap behind each others’ backs trying to tear others down and build themselves up. Now my parents, two experienced archfae warlocks, were not much better; they used their powers to get dirt on everyone in town and messed with people, even ruined a few lives, but they were no worse than the town’s rumor mill. Unfortunately, since they were in the service of an archfae, my family was not popular in town. One day after my older brother turned 18 and made a pact with the same archfae my parents had a pact with, some older kids attacked us, and after my brother cast eldritch blast to get them to leave us alone, but that was grounds for the guards to arrest us and later our parents. By the end of the week, my parents and brother were executed, but the town “spared” me because I didn’t make the pact yet, but they made me watch the executions from the front row. Guess where I went after seeing my family murdered right in front of me?”

Mumbo looked at them both. “So you’re both adventuring to run away from your problems?”

Out of game, any composure Cleo had after hearing Discount Crime Boy was gone after Mumbo’s astute observation, and she was just losing it behind the DM screen.

“Okay Mumbo,” Grian said, “What’s your story?”

Mumbo turned to Cleo, “Hey, I’m halfway through my alcoholic abomination. Do I need to make another con save to avoid passing out?”

“Sure, you still have to beat a 13 to be sober,” Cleo said with a wicked smile.

The highest Mumbo could roll with his +3 con mod was a 9, and since Mumbo wanted to fail this check, he sent a quick prayer to any listening outer gods before rolling.

He rolled a 10.

“Can I dodge this question?” He said tugging at his collar.

“I don’t know. Is your dexterity high enough?” Grian said, sending Cleo into another giggling fit.

It took a while before Cleo gained some composure. “Guys lay off. Mumbo is allowed to not answer. It doesn’t mean he’ll escape any consequences for doing so, but he can.”

The others backed off before in game Mumbo spoke up, “I still don’t feel super sure about trusting you all with this, but it wouldn’t be fair to Grian and Cub if I didn’t.” He pulled out his sparkly red leather tome and showed it to the table. “I bought this while looking for spellbooks for wizard school, and not only was it connected to some eldritch being from beyond this dimension, and even though a chain of people handled this book before I did, the being latched onto me, and I didn’t find out it did until 3 months into wizard school. None of the high-level wizards who ran the school could separate me from the being, and instead of keeping me around to see if they could find a way, they just threw me out.”

The atmosphere was about as heavy as an elephant cart after the tragic backstories were shared. Scar turned to Cleo. “Is there fantasy therapy?”

“No, the closest thing is having mentally and emotionally stable teammates help them,” Cleo replied.

Zed and Scar gave each other concerned looks before Zed said, “Well Scar, guess we’re not just physical healers.” 

“Guess so. Everyone let’s do a group hug!” Scar practically chirped.

The sadness trio was taken aback. “Wait, so you’re not gonna abandon the runaway royal, the orpah, and the wizard school dropout?” Mumbo sputtered in shock.

“More than enough people did that to you already. We’re not gonna do that,” Zed said.

This touched the sad boys, and one by one, they joined the hug. The session ended with the party all hugging in and out of game.


End file.
